1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Korean character input apparatus and method using a touch screen. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method by which the number of character input keys disposed on a touch screen used in an electronic device, such as a cellular phone, a Portable Media Player (PMP), a Mobile Internet Device (MID), or the like, is minimized, and the input of Korean characters is simplified and sped up using a unique character input scheme.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, as electronic devices have been miniaturized and touch screens have risen as a core technology, a new character input scheme capable of replacing conventional input keys is demanded.
In particular, Koreans usually input Korean characters more frequently than English characters, and therefore, there is an urgent need for the development of a compact character input apparatus provided with a keypad designed to facilitate input of Korean characters.
In this regard, Korean patent publication No. 1999-65826 uses a phoneme combination scheme in which a character typing method can be learned easily, but a large number of key strokes is required due to the composition of vowels.
Also, Korean patent publication No. 1999-52447 is based on visual reinterpretation in which Korean characters have to be reconstructed by the reconstruction of consonants. In this regard, this system requires resources beyond a basic algorithm of Korean. Moreover, a large number of key strokes is required for the input of consonants, and it is not easy to learn the character typing method.
Korean patent registration No. 159191 fails to reduce the number of times required for typing keys for the input of consonants, and makes it difficult for users to understand the order of writing for the input of compound vowels.
That is, according to the Korean character input methods of the related art, an excessively large number of key strokes increases the possibility of erroneous input and requires an excessive amount of time for character input.
Therefore, a need exists for a system and method for minimizing the number of character input keys disposed on a touch screen in an electronic device, and for simplifying and speeding up the input of Korean characters on the touch screen.